


Living together

by Skodde



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Insomnia, Living Together, Mental Health Issues, Other, Undecided Relationship(s), break-in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7256698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skodde/pseuds/Skodde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tino, Lukas, Berwlad and Chris find themselves down on luck and money. Even though only knowing eachother from the internet they decide to move in together. However, when two of them struggle with sleep, one is hyperactive and the last is extremely introverted, life can get tough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving in.

They were all carrying the last of their belongings up the stairs to their new apartment. The walk up to the fourth floor was tiring, and they all no doubt wished that the elevator had not broken down on the day before they got here. It would certainly have made moving everything a lot easier. It also did not help that the stairs sounded like they would fall apart every step they took.  
Coming up the last stairs steps was a relief. Now they just had to squeeze through the half open door and find a place to put their stuff. The floor already had boxes after boxes stacking up on one after the other, finding space would not be easy.

Tino and Lukas seemed to notice the empty kitchen table at the same time and both rushed to it and put their belongings on it. With their hands finally free, they took a chair each and sat down to get their breath back.

Chris and Berwald were still looking around in the chaos for a place to put their belongings on. In the end, they both also seemed to land on the same place, the half-constructed couch.

All four of them were tired. They had almost used a whole day to carry boxes and furniture up to their new home, and with almost no breaks. They had gone back and forth with the landlord about the lease and what should be changed in it. They wanted electricity to be included in the rent, warm water and two parking spots as well as other things. In the end had they gotten almost all they wanted, and the landlord had grumpily gone to print out the new lease.

They were all still unsure if this was a good idea. They had all been living alone for years now, that it would be strange to not just move in with one person, but three.

The first time they had spoken to each other was over a chat room for a fantasy game that they all enjoyed playing in their teenage years. They had all been young and not had a care in the world. The four of them connected well in the chatroom, and after a year did they meet in person. It was at a convention for gamers and alike. They choose that place since it would be safe with that many people around. None of them wanting to meet a 40 years old creepy dude who had told them that he was 16. In the end had they all found each other among all the people in the crowd, and they were all 16 or 17 as they had said.  
They spent the rest of the Con together, and when it was over did they exchange contact information so that they could keep better in touch.

8 years later, and here they were, all moved together.

Tino had been the one with the idea to actually move together, it was also he who found the apartment.

Tino’s previously landlord had been far from the nicest, and 1 week ago had Tino gotten a note saying that he was to move out in one week. He was being kicked out for no apparent reason, and he really did not know what to do. He had stumbled onto the ad for the apartment on accident, but when he saw it, had he gotten an idea.

He knew that they all were struggling when it came to paying bills and having some spare money left. However, if they all moved together, it would become cheaper and they could maybe even save some money.

The night he posted the idea to them, they were all a little hesitant. Some of them lived four hours away from where the apartment was. Which meant it would be a long drive with all of their belongings. It was also the fact that tough they did know each other, had they never really meet that often in person. On two hands could they count the numbers of time they had meet face to face. 9.

But, none of the other three could deny that it was tempting to be able to actually not have to worry about food and even be able to save some money.

Two days before Tino would be kicked out did they all respond that they agreed to the idea to move in together.

Chris was the one who lived farthest away from everyone. So on top of the fact that he had carried boxes with belongings up the stairs and furniture the whole day, had he also woken up at 3Am to be at the apartment at 8 AM.

Lukas and Berwald only lived just under 2 hours away from the new apartment, tough in different towns. Which meant that it had not been as tough on them, as it had been on Chris.

Therefore, no one was surprised when Chris said that he would head to bed. They had luckily carried all the beds into each bedroom, so he just had to lie down and sleep.

The three remaining sat by the kitchen table and caught up with each other.

* * *

 

The evening started to become night. Berwald got up from the chair and said that he would head to bed as well. He looked back at the two remaining.

“Try to get some sleep, okay?” he mumbled out with a knowing look.

The two gave a half-hearted nod.

He seemed pleased enough with that, and went to what had been assigned as his room.

Both Lukas and Tino sat there with half empty mugs. They watched the people outside, how some walked with drunken steps and other trying to rush home, without trying to run.

They had done this for so many years, stayed up together in the night, because neither of them can sleep. Usually they had done so from a screen. Now they could finally actually sit out the night together, in person, seeing the same things and just being together.

“How are you? Sleep wise that is,” Lukas asked Tino, bringing his coffee mug up to take a sip.

“Heh. Same as always I guess,” he answered and fidget with his own cup, but not seeming to want to drink from it anymore.  
“How are you nowadays?” Tino asked with a small smile as he let go of the cup and rather started to fidget with his hands.

“Tired as I always am around this time. Still no explanation for it,” Lukas said. Then he got up from his chair, maneuvered himself to the kitchen, and took a new cup out from one of the boxes.  
“Is this one good?” he asked and held up a white cup.

“Is there one with colour in there?” Tino asked.

Lukas searched around in the box for some time and then went to a new one. After looking through two more boxes with kitchen utensils and tableware did he find a blue cup. He held it up so that Tino could see it.

“Something like this?” he asked.

“That one will do,” Tino confirmed and smiled.

Lukas washed the cup he had found thoroughly and boiled some more water.

He came back with the water boiler and the new cup in hand and sat both down on the table. The boxes having been pushed nearer the edge so that they could look out the window and be able to see each other as well.

“Sorry for being difficult,” Tino said looking sad as he made some tea in the new cup.

“You can’t help it, and I don’t mind,” Lukas said as he made coffee for himself.  
“Does your dreams have a certain theme nowadays?” he stirred his coffee and looked at the other, trying to get some hints of what was frightening him this time.

Tino, at first did not answer. He was looking around, searching, and trying to deem if everything was safe. His gaze was on the piles of boxes that were everywhere. His look turned to the furniture that were leaning or standing at odd places in the room and then he looked at the bedroom doors. Probably wondering if everything was safe to say or if someone was listening.  
Then he turned back to Lukas and smiled a sad smile.

“My dream nowadays have people following me. They try to take my secrets away from me. It seems like they want a certain thing they believe that I have, so I have to run, flee, get away. They never catch me, but that is maybe the scary part. Because I don’t know what will happen if they do.” He looked away, as Lukas had imagined he would do.

“Well I can’t really say that what you do is unhealthy, since we are both avoiding or ignoring our problems. It would be hypocritical of me to judge you.” Lukas smiled as he said that, only wanting to lighten the mood.  
“But yeah, nightmares do not sound fun to have, tough I would have liked to experience one at least once in my lifetime,” Lukas said.

Tino laughed a little, but remembered how late it was, so he tried to no laugh as loud.

“I could never imagen to ever say something like that, wishing for a nightmare,” he said with his hand in front of his mouth, still trying to hold his laugh back.

Lukas laid down on the table, resting his head on his arms and looking at the steam from his cup dim down.

“I guess it would be hard for either of us to understand the others problem, except for the fact that we can’t sleep,” he said with a bitter smile.

“I guess so.” Tino smiled bitterly too.

They did what they had always done and talked until the sun started to rise in the horizon. Seeing the sun’s first light each morning was their sign to try to get maybe a few hours of sleep, tough they both doubted it each time that sleep wold find them.

* * *

 

When Chris woke that morning, being the first to actually rise up, could he find the remains of the night duo. On Luka’s side was there one cup and an empty instant coffee container. On Tino’s side was there 5 cups with several different tea bags on a napkin, piled up, much like the boxes in the room.

He sighed as he threw all the tea bags and the empty coffee container in the trash and put the cups in the sink. Their dishwasher was yet to be put in place so they had to hand wash everything until a plumber could get it up and running.  
Tough Chris did not mind doing the dishes today. They would probably distribute tasks after they had gotten everything in place.

He had two more cups to wash when he saw Lukas come beside him and put the water boiler back so that he could boil more water.

“Coffee?” Lukas asked.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” he said as he went back to the dishes.  
“So, how much?” he asked.

Lukas looked at him and then at the water boiler and then back at him again.

“About an hour and half I think…” Lukas said as he went back to the chair he had sat on almost the whole night. He dug around in his box, the last one he had brought up the day previous. He seemed to be pleased with what he found and took it out. It was another cup.

Chris wiped his hand and came to the table as well with one of the cups he had washed.

“The night bring any fun adventures?” he said as he sat down on another chair than what Tino had used.

“We have mostly been catching up and such.” Lukas looked to the water boiler as he talked.

 A door creaked, and out of it came Berwald, Looking as he always did, grumpy.

“Coffee is in the making, so you can wipe that frown upside down,” Chris as usually teased.

Berwald did not even respond to that, but rather went to get a cup of his own.

“He sleeping?” Berwald asked as he came back with one of the washed cups and motioned to Tino’s door.

“Think so.” Lukas replied.

“How late?” Berwald asked in his mumbled speech.

“Around five I think.” Lukas replied again.

The silence dragged on. Chris and Berwald had a harder time when it came to asking about the late night duos condition.

Luckily, did Tino come out of his room as the water boiler gave from it its signal click that it was done boiling. Chris got up and fetched the water for all of them, and Berwald went to get Tino a cup. He held several up until Tino gave an approving nod.

They all sat down at the kitchen table and started to discuss what needed to be done for the day. What they would move and what would be placed where.

This was their new life together. The four of them living under the same roof after being alone for so long. It would be tough, with two of them that almost never slept, one that was hyperactive, and one that shut himself in too much.

But they would make this work. They all needed to save some money, and they all needed a little help from each other.


	2. 2. A week after

It was a week since they had all first started to move in, and after some un-packing, assembling and organizing was the place starting to look okay.

There were still boxes here and there on the floor, and some more furniture that needed to be put in place. However, it was liveable, and they could see that this could work out for them.

It was also good that the place was in everyone’s taste. It made it easier to feel like this could be a home.

Even though they had never really meet that much in person, did they still know a lot about each other. They knew what each one was struggling with and what often had to be done for everyone to feel safe, at peace and that they were being treated fairly.    
Of course, there was a huge difference in being the best help you can be through a screen, and helping in person. But, everyone had managed it till now.

And, even though the chores were at an odd number had they even figured out who would do what so that nothing would be unfair.

They figured that there were seven chores that had to be done that should be split amongst them. Since it was an odd number, had they decided that they would switch who did what every other week.

The previous week and the one they were in now, it was Chris who did laundry and made sure the living room was clean.   
Lukas had been tasked with making dinner and doing dishes.   
Berwald was the one in charge of getting groceries and cleaning the bathroom.   
And that meant that there was only one thing for Tino to do, and that was to clean the kitchen. But he feel guilty about only having to do one thing so he made sure to get the mail each afternoon.   
Other things like cleaning their own room or making breakfast and lunch they had to do themselves.

It had also been decided that Lukas was the one to pay the bills. Everyone would each month transfer money to him a few days before the bill was due, that way they had some order on it. It felt a little easier for everyone if one of them were to be the bill payer so that they always had control on such things. So that suddenly the power would not be shut down because one of them were late paying one day. He was also the one to take care of receipts so that everyone knew how much they owned each other.   
.   
Berwald had offered to help Lukas if he would need it. A second pair of eyes to look over it all to make sure everything was as it should be.

And after they had both looked over the financial statements after just one week, could they see that it was paying off to live together. 

So, to celebrate that they had lived together a week, and that they were saving money, had they agreed on making a bigger dinner.

Berwald was currently out shopping what would be needed for the dinner, and food they would need for the rest of the week. Lukas had gone with him, wanting to stop by a bookstore on the way back.

That left Chris and Tino to watch over the apartment.

They were currently sitting on the finished assembled couch, drinking coffee. However, none of them were talking.

Out of all four of them, Tino and Chris were the two that had conversed the least among themselves. It was not that they didn’t like each other, they just often did not know what to say to the other when they first came into talk.

Each time they thought they heard someone walking up to their floor did they wait in anticipation, hoping it to be Berwald and Lukas. But, it was never them walking up the stairs. It seemed like they were taking their time. Lukas probably having to read the back of every new book before he could decide which one to buy. Or, it could be Berwald who was standing 10 feet away from the register, not in line, just dreading having to go and buy what he had selected. Or again, it could be the both of them standing with different brands of the same product, discussing which one to get deciding on price and quality.

So, there they sat together, sipping their coffee and not talking.

From the open window could they hear cars passing by, some honking, other whining as they came to a halting stop by the traffic light.  
angry people shouted as they crossed the street towards the cars. The people driving the cars shouted angrily back.

Tino sighed.

“Why are people in cities so angry all the time?” he asked while looking down in his half empty mug.

“Dunno, I think people just are too stressed in big cities like these,” Chris answered and looked out the window, down onto the street.  
“You’re still not used to it, right?”

“What gave it away? The fact that I flinch each time a car honks or that I have to look out all the time.” Tino said with hint of self-irony.

“You squeezing the cup so hard was a good tip off.” Chris looked at him and grinned.

“You noticed that?” Tino asked, a small look of astonishment on his face.

“Well it is my job to clean the living space this week, so I have to keep a keen eye on everything that could cause a mess.” He laughed a little.  
“Also, that’s my favourite cup, so I’m keeping a watchful eye on it.”

Tino’s eyes widened mid drink.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’ll get a new cup.” He said frantically and started getting up to get a new cup.

“Sit down.” Chris patted where Tino had sat.   
“It’s okay. I’m sure you won’t break it. hell if I haven’t managed to do it till now then I would be amassed if you could do it.” he said and laughed a little again.

Tino had a look full of guilt. He looked towards the cupboard and then to where he had sat, and then back to the cupboard. It looked like he had a hard time deciding.

He stood like that for some time, looking back and forth. But then, Chris got up too. He walked to Tino and patted his shoulder.

“You will probably have a new cup anyway now,” Chris said and walked to the kitchen and got a new cup for Tino. He filled his and Tino’s new cup with coffee, and on the way back he handed the new cup to Tino.   
Tino just looked utterly confused.

“What do you mean by that?” he said almost offended.

Chris just motioned with his head towards the clock on the wall.

“It has been two hours,” He stated.

Tino got a look of clarification, sat done and started to drink from his new mug.

“Thanks.” Tino said with a small smile.

“No problem.” Chris grinned.  
He took the remote from the table and turned on the Tv.

They used the rest of the time watching series and commenting small things, not really talking that much.

* * *

 

When Berwald and Lukas finally came home was Chris vacuuming the living room and Tino was sitting by the kitchen table reading a book. They could spot three cups on the kitchen table by Tino and one cup on the coffee table. Lukas was happy that he had convinced Berwald to buy more coffee, since they all seemed to drink a lot of it.

Seeing as Berwald and Lukas had their hands full with groceries bags did Chris and Tino drop what they were doing to help them. Berwald stocked the refrigerator. Chris put things that needed to be frozen into the freezer, and Lukas and Tino got stuff into the pantry.

“Has anything eventful happened while Berwald and I were out?” Lukas asked while he put the last bag of pasta into the pantry.

“Chris has vacuumed the living room for the last hour now, I think,” Tino said and smiled. Holding in a laugh.

“I don’t see how that is eventful...” Berwald mumbled out.

“Hey! I’m plenty eventful just being me. I don’t need to do so much to entertain others,” Chris boasted.

“I hope the vacuum was not on that whole hour, otherwise the electricity bill will be undoubtedly high,” Lukas said and looked at Tino and Chris.  
They both avoided his gaze and continued emptying the grocery bags.   
“Well as long as we are more careful with our power use, then it should not matter,” he sighed out.

“When is the first bill due?” Tino asked, probably already thinking about how he could use less electricity.

“End of this month… about a week and a half,” Berwald answered. Lukas nodded affirmatively.

“So, there is no need to stress really?” Chris said and picked up all the empty bags and put them in one bag.

“As long as you don’t make a habit of vacuuming for an hour, then no. then it should be no stress about it.” Lukas clarified.

Tino smiled a little and went back to the kitchen table, bringing a new cup with him.

“Well I think he won’t have to vacuum for an hour anymore now, since he now know how it works.” Tino giggled a little as he talked.

Lukas and Berwald both had a curious look on their face at what Tino had said.

“What do you mean?” Berwald asked as he got the bags from Chis and put them under the sink.

Tino got almost a shy like appearance on him as he looked to Chris, asking with no word if he was allowed to say anything.   
Chris only grinned and made a motion with his hand as to make him go on.

Tino giggled again and sat down on his usual spot by the kitchen table.

“Chris was just going to check if the vacuum that I brought still worked. I told him that he had to check if the switch was the correct way so that all the dust in it would not blow out. But before I got to finish warning him had he already turned it on and all the dirt in it filled the living room.” Tino giggled some more.  
“And so he had to vacuum it all back in to the vacuum bag.” Tino finished.

Both Lukas and Berwald sighed.

“Idiot,” Berwald mumbled.

“Indeed,” Lukas agreed.

“Hey! At least I know how it works now. And I cleaned it all up before you got here… though there could be some left under the couch.” Chris grinned and scratched the back of his head.  
“Anyway. What are we eating today?” Chris asked.

Lukas sighed again, letting Chris divert the conversation away from his accident.

“We are having pork chops,” Lukas answered.

Everyone seemed happy by that.

* * *

 

The dinner had been eaten, and the coffee for the dessert was being made.

Everyone was in bliss, since it had been so long since they could have enjoyed such a big, good, meal.

Chris was telling stories from his work that he deemed fun, though the others had a hard time understanding were the fun part was. Chris work as a carpenter, and often he could forget most people would not know the difference between a ball-peen hammer and a claw hammer. Nonetheless they still laughed or chuckled when the punchline came, which they did not understand.

Lukas after some time got up to get the coffee and the dessert.

“Lukas, what’s the dessert. Come on you can tell me now, right?” Chris whined like he had done since the word dessert had been mentioned after Berwald and Lukas came home.

”I’m not telling,” Lukas said.

“Pleeeeas?” Chris continued.

“It’s pudding, okay.” Lukas sighed out, done with Chris’s whining.

“Fuck yes!” Chris shouted out in excitement.

Lukas who had gotten Chris off his back about the dessert could finally pour the coffee into the coffee pot. He also took a cup out from the dishwasher and took the pot and the cup to the kitchen table they were all sitting by. He handed the cup to Tino and put the pot on the table.

“Don’t drink it all up while I get the dessert out, okay?”

He only got a nod from Tino and Chris. Sceptically he went to get the plates needed for the pudding and the tableware as well.

“I’ll help you,” Berwald said and got up from his chair and went to the kitchen.

“That dinner was sooooo good!” Chris said and stretched were he sat.

“It was nice to actually eat enough so that you don’t feel hungry,” Tino said.

“Amen to that Tino.” Chris stated.

“Is the front door still open? It’s kinda chilling in here?” Tino asked.

“Dunno.” Was all Chris said.

They both pour coffee into their cups and small talked while Lukas and Berwald got the dessert and the plates and such.

“Okay, make room on the table,” Lukas said as he came with a big plate filled with pudding. Berwald standing right behind him with the desert plates and the table wear.

Then the front door slammed shut from a draft from the window.

Tino holding his coffee mug, flinched so much that he threw the mug away from him. the mug flew in the air and broken on the impact against the living room wall.

They all stood still for a good 20 seconds, then Chris started to laugh.

They all looked at him and could not understand what was so funny.

He laughed and pointed to the shattered mug. They all looked at it and then Tino started to laugh too.

There on the floor; shattered, laid Chris’s favourite mug.

“You said what about me not being able to break it?” Tino laughed out.

“I was wrong I guess.” Chris laughed out more.

Lukas and Berwald looked at the two crazy people laughing and looked at each other for clue, which none of them had.

“I don’t really get what is going on,” Lukas said.

“I don’t get it either, but I know one thing,” Berwald said and smiled a little.

“Oh? and what’s that?” Lukas asked.

“Now Chris will have to learn how a mop function as well.”

Lukas and Berwald stated to laugh too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, they are certainly having fun.  
> Thanks for reading the second chapter. I hope you liked it. and thanks to everyone who liked and followed and tell me how much they liked the first chapter. It really inspired me to write another one
> 
> This story does not have certain end or anything, I really have no idea where this will go. However if you want something to happen, then please feel free to tell me. I’m looking for inspiration wherever I can. 
> 
> Happiness: 8/10  
> Stress: 1/10
> 
> Thanks for reading.


	3. 3 Someone broke in... (Break-in Part 1)

One of the main reasons that Tino chose the apartment that he did was because of price, obviously. However, he also thought that the place looked nice and liveable. Sure having to live on the fourth floor with an elevator that sometimes decided not to work was tiring on the legs.  
He had also chosen the place because it was in a nice neighbourhood, and he was sure the chance of being robbed would be tiny. Especially when he thought that he, or one of his roommates would almost always be home. They all had jobs and such so most of them had to leave the apartment some days to work, but not every day.

Chris was a carpenter, Berwald a mechanic, and Tino was a florist. They all had jobs where they had to leave the house to actually work. Lukas on the other hand was a freelance writer. He could work anywhere as long as he had his laptop. And, he seemed to like to write in the apartment, rarely going outside.

The weird thing was that until this day had there been always at least two at home. It was easy enough to explain. Since Lukas rarely left the apartment and the other three had work on different days. So that left two staying at home most of the time.  
But, today it all changed.

Tino and Berwald had already left, taking one of the cars to head to work. Lukas was sitting by the kitchen table working, and Chris was lazing on the couch; enjoying his day off.  
That was until his phone rang and he was called to work because they needed more men on the work site.   
That left Lukas to sit by himself for once, something he had not done now in almost three weeks.

Every day he was surrounded by one of them. Chris was always hanging over him when he was the one to prepared dinner. Berwald sat with him and help him with the financial statements, and they also small talk some then. And, when the night came around, did he and Tino sit up together and talk until the sun peaked.  
In a weird way did Lukas far from hate it. For so long had he been used to the silence of his old apartment. The only sound he ever heard was the alert sound from his laptop that someone was talking in the group chat.

He thought that when he would finally got a day where they were all out, would he be soaking in the silence, just enjoying every second of it. But, no. he had been alone now for about 30 minutes and the silence was deafening. He did not know how he had gotten used to the sounds of his roommates so quickly. How now only the muffled sound of traffic and people on the streets were not enough. How his usual concentration music just sounded boring and uneventful.  
It was the same as feeling yourself going mad slowly.

So, Lukas grabbed his laptop bag and packed down his laptop and charger, wallet, a notebook, something to write with and his keys. Then he headed out.

He knew he would have to walk since both the cars were taken. And he had wished now that he had managed to convince the landlord that they should get three parking spots. Though that was maybe a little unreasonable. Even he knew that.  
It was only just good for him to walk a little now and then anyways.

It had been hard to gain weight when he had almost been starving each day. But, now that he was eating well each day had he noticed that he had started to gain some kilos. It was still a healthy amount, but that would not be the case forever. So, maybe he should say yes to the offer of joining the others in a gym membership.  
He understood that Chris and Berwald wanted to keep in shape and all that, they had loved to prove that they were stronger than the other when they were younger.  
After they moved out had the bickering stopped between them and all their energy went into surviving on what they had in their wallet. However that Tino had said yes in joining them had been surprising. When they talked about it that night had he said that he had wanted to go back in his hobby of firearms. He was going to save up for a weapons locker and then get his weapons from his parents home and store them in the apartment, if everyone was okay with that of course. They still had yet to discuss this matter.  
The three of them however, had said that Lukas was welcome to join them. He had told them that he would think about it. And right now it did not sound so bad.

Lukas had been in deep thought about training, exercise and health that he did almost not notice that he went past the library.

Since he was now at his destination did he entered, and found himself an empty seat where he could write and still maybe hear some small talk and chatter.

It was not the same as being in his new home with the others there, but it would have to do.

* * *

Three and a half hour later and Lukas had finished writing on his current project that was for a magazine, which was getting more and more known. If he got this article published would he earn some good money, which in turn would secure him to be able to pay rent this week.

As he packed everything back into his laptop bag, having decided that it was probably best to stroll home. Did he find it strange that none of his roommates had tried to contact him. It could be that he had put his phone on silent, however when he searched for it could he not find it.

Realising that he had in fact forgotten his phone did he get an urge to go home as fast as he could.

He knew that there was a bus stop two blocks away from the apartment. He only needed to check the bus schedule and hopefully he could get home quick enough without everyone worrying.

At least he had remembered his wallet so that he could buy a ticket to the bus.

Half-jogging out of the library did he go to the nearest bus stop to check out the schedule. He was fortunate it showed, since the bus he needed to take was only two minutes away from arriving.

Lukas took a relieved breath. He never had liked to make people worry about him, but he would be home soon and could explain himself then.

However, now that he did not have his cell phone with him could he only wonder where it was since he had forgotten it. He usually had it beside his laptop when he wrote so he could see if he got a message or if someone called.

As he went through his day in reverse to see if he could remember where he could have placed it, did the bus come.

As he waited for his turn to enter the vehicle so that he could pay for his ride did he wonder if he should buy a bus card. It would make it easier if he was going outside again, and since he probably would say yes to the gym offer could it be wise to have one. Since the gym was not far away from the library, and the bus that stopped two blocks from their home also went to the gym.

But, when it became Lukas’s turn to pay, did he only pay for a single ticket. He often froze up when in public, and he also did not want to use too much time, so he just asked for a ticket.

He could buy a bus card later anyway when he knew if his article would be published or not. With the money he could earn from it he could afford some more stuff he needed and save some of the money as well.

He chose to sit down farther back, by the window. He did not really like buses, always fearing that they would be overcrowded so that he had to squeeze around people. But, then again, a non-crowded bus could be just as unpleasant, since people could suddenly start a conversation with him if they sat beside him.

However, Lukas was still lucky. The whole bus ride it did not become overcrowded and no one sat beside him. It was a relief.

Exiting the bus, he started to walk home.

He actually felt more relaxed as he walked toward the apartment. The others must have understood that he had gone outside for once and that he would be back sometime today. And, even though he had forgotten his phone, had they probably found it and put two and two together.  
He had probably not needed to rush like he had, but he had just gotten so anxious in the moment he understood that he did not have with him his phone.

Yes, all had to be good.

Before Lukas rounded the corner and entered his street did he go inside a small kiosk that was on the corner. Even though he was sure now that they understood that he had not meant to vanish like that did it not hurt to get something as an apology.

Looking through the shelves did he wonder if he knew of anything that everybody liked. He did not have to worry about allergies he knew, since it had been his job to prepare food the first two weeks. still , he wanted to get something everyone would like.

After having checked every shelf did he conclude that there was nothing here that they could all share, but he still wanted to get something.

In the end did he find some flowers he could buy as an apology. They were not roses, because that would be weird. Though he was not sure what kind of flowers they were, but they were still pretty.

He bought the flowers and rounded the corner.

He had not walked many steps before he stopped.  
In front of their apartment complex was a police car parked on the sidewalk.

Lukas got an awful feeling in his stomach, but he continued to walk again. He got closer to the driveway to the apartments and as he started to head to the stairs, figuring that the elevator was probably broken as usual.

As he got closer and closer to his floor, did it become obvious who’s apartment the police was at. Theirs.

As he stood outside of the door, did he dread to go inside. He did not know why the police was here.

Had Chris and Berwald fought like when they were kids? Did Tino have an episode again, like he had not had for years? Or did it have something to do with him? He had gotten in trouble before because of his search history because he was a writer, but he had been more careful after that.

He knocked on the front door before he entered, just to announce his presence.  
When he came into the living room did everyone look shocked to see him.

Chris who seemed to have gone to answer the door since he was in the middle of the room looked at him like he was a ghost.

Tino who stood by the couch with Berwald and the police officer had tears already showing in his eyes.

Berwald was probably feeling something along what the other two felt, but just like Lukas, he had a hard time showing it.

Though the police officer looked Luks up and down and seemed sceptic and mistrusting at him.

“Lukas where have you been?” Chris said in a quiet voice like he still did not believe that Lukas was right there.

“The library,” Lukas answered, feeling a little scared by the police officers look.

“We thought you got kidnapped!” Tino yelled out with tears, and rushed to Lukas and hugged him.

“Why would you think that?” Lukas asked confused, since such a scenario just seemed unlikely to him.

“Have you seen the state of the apartment?” Tino again shouted out, still crying and clutching at Lukas as if afraid he would vanish.

At hearing that did Lukas look around, and the place looked like it had been frantically searched for something. There were papers everywhere, and broken objects, the coffee table was flipped upside down. The room was a mess.

“Lukas? Where is your cell phone?” this time it was Berwald who spoke out in his usual mumbled speech.

Lukas at that felt a little red faced, though he did not know if it showed.

“I don’t know… I forgot to pack it with me,” Lukas admitted.

“So, you did not decide to turn on your friend, take all their stuff and then act all innocent about it?” the police officer said.

“Excuse me?” Lukas said half offended and half confused.

“Lukas, we have been robbed, all our electronic stuff is gone!” Tino said, not shouting this time. Lukas could feel him shake in his arms. He held around him and gently soothed him.

“Was only that taken?” Lukas asked, fearing that their emergency cash could have been taken.

“The box is gone too.” Berwald answered.

Lukas now felt like he had gone grey like a ghost. Their money and their electronic belongings had been taken, and by the looks of it, the police officer suspected him.

“So, Mister Lukas Bondevik. You say you were at the library this whole time, can you account for that?” the police officer asked, but seemed to await a no.

“Well I walked to the library-”

“So you can’t account for it?” the officer interrupted.

“Well not for the first hour, but I did buy a coffee at the cafe an hour after I came there and I bought a bus ticket to get home and I stopped inside a kiosk before I got here. So I can’t account for the whole time I was outside, but I can for some of it...” Lukas answered honestly, trying to look at the officer, but ending up shying away from his judging stare.

“And how can you account for it?” he asked, not seeming to believe Lukas.

“I have the receipts.” Lukas took them out from his wallet and showed them to the officer.

“We will keep these as evidence,” the officer said and took them from Lukas’s hand.  
“I have gotten everyone's statement now and will be going back to the station with what information you have all given me. You will be contacted in the span of the next days about what will happen further. Have good day.” the officer said and then he left.

Lukas was still holding around Tino and soothing him, Chris looked annoyed at the officer as he left and Berwald started to pick up some papers.

They all seemed tired, and they all seemed sad.

But that’s usually how it is when you get robbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter, Yay!  
> This time itook inspiration from one of you guys, Namly: Alica123321on ff.net , who suggested that the apartment could get robbed.  
> This idea just gave me so many thought, so the next chapters will be fun to write.
> 
> Thanks to BlessYou for beta reading
> 
> Happiness: 8/10  
> Stress: 3/10
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Cursed (Break-in part 2)

It had been two days since their home had been robbed, and though everyone wanted to stay home and guard their new living space, the responsibilities of being an adult stopped them. Chris, Berwald and Tino had to leave the apartment in the morning or early afternoon to go to work. And Lukas each day left the apartment before anyone had woken up, and he came home late, never really saying where he had been.

This behavior did scare them a little.

It was not that they thought that Lukas had actually betrayed them, and stolen their stuff with someone else to gain some money. Last they had heard from him, before the break-in, had he talked about writing an article for a upcoming magazine. He had been excited and proud about it, and told them that he could make some good money if he was published.

However, yesterday had Chris found Lukas’s cell phone in the bathroom. They suspected that he must have forgotten it on the sink counter before he left as usual, but the fact remained that he had said at the day of the break-in that he had forgotten it, so why had the thief not taken it as well?

The officer from the other day had called and asked if there was anything more that they had neglected to tell or just suddenly remembered. However, they had refrained from telling him about Lukas’s cell phone.

They were now all home from work and were sitting around the kitchen table, and well, not knowing what to do.

The Tv was gone, the radio as well, their gaming consoles, and the computers. It had all been taken.

It was strange that the thief had managed to get everything out of the apartment without raising suspicion. And it was also the fact that he, or she had found their emergency money, sure it looked like the thief had been searching around by flipping the coffee table and the couch cushions, and throwing a lot of their papers all around. But, why were not their rooms a mess, the bathroom, the kitchen? It was all like a bad stage setup. The thief clearly knew where to go, and how to find what he, or she was looking for. Could Lukas really have done that, told the thief where everything was?

They knew that this was not right, to suspect their friend, and they did not really do it. They just found all of this to be suspicious.

“I really wanna game something right now…” Chris sighed out.

“You haven’t touched any of the consuls since we moved in here,” Berwald commented.

“Well I want to do so now,” Chris said, a little annoyed.

“It often is like that. When you lose something it is all you want,” Tino said and sipped from his tea.

“Has anyone seen Lukas today?” Tino asked and looked at the two of them.

“No,” they both said in unison, and then they glared at each other. Tino sighed.

“You two should really start going to the gym again, so that the fighting in here can stops somewhat,” Tino said and stood up.

“You guys know, that I’m willing to join as well, right? The gym I mean,” he added.

“Are you going to lift weights, Tino?” Chris asked amused, Berwald looked to be as well.

“What? It is hard work dealing with firearms. I want to start up in the best shape possible!” he said offended.

“Is Lukas going to join?” Berwald asked this time, and looked at Tino.

“I… I don’t know, actually.” Tino crossed his arms and looked a little sad.

“Has he not mentioned it during the night?” Chris asked confused.

“We haven’t - or more like it, he have not shown up at the kitchen table during the previous nights. He has been away since the break-in.”

At that did Chris and Berwald look even more confused and concerned. They all knew that Lukas was blaming himself for the break-in, but for him to not talk the night away with Tino was unusual. They had done that since they were around 16 or 17 years old. They had almost never missed a night with each other.

Chris and Berwald were sure that if all four of them had not become friends, had Tino and Lukas still managed to connect to each other and end up as friends anyway. They just were so alike, and unalike that it worked.

“You don’t think that he is becoming ill again?” Tino asked the two others. He already looked scared, not really wanting an honest reply right now.

Berwald and Chris looked at each other and they seemed to land on the same page.

“I’m sure that if he is, then he’ll tell us. Right, Berwald?” Chris said with a cheerful voice.

“He has become more honest about himself. I believe that he will tell us if he is becoming ill again.” Berwald said in his usual mumbled speech, though it noticed that he tried to say it more clearly than he usually would.

Tino nodded in agreement. If Lukas was feeling down again, then he would surely tell them. It had to be another reason for him to be acting so out of his characteristics. However, something in the back of Tino’s mind reminded him that bad things do happen. He shook the thought away and hoped that Lukas was okay, and that if he was not that he would reach out to them.

* * *

It was an hour after they had eaten dinner, and they were all just standing around in the kitchen. Chris was constantly walking around and opening the cupboards, the pantry, the fridge door and the refrigerator door. Tino was looking concerned because he knew that that was one of Chris’s sign that he was getting restless, and then he could get difficult if he did not find a way to do something that would tire him out somewhat, but Tino did not know what to do about it. Berwald was observing this as well with earbuds in his ear, listening to his music to regain some energy.

They had yet to hear from Lukas today, which Tino found depressing since he wanted things to be as they had been when they had all started to live together.

He had been out a lot more after the break-in, and he usually did not come home before after dark. It was an unusual behavior of him to do so. Lukas had always said that he liked staying at home if he could, often avoiding going out. He said that it was too much of a hassle to be amongst people all the time, and that it was also to loud, but, had his opinions not changed on that? He seemed to like to stay with them in the living room even when he was working, and on the day of the break-in had he gone out to the library. And Tino could not remember Lukas having done so before, not now, and not before they moved together.

Thinking about all this, and being so suspicious of Lukas made Tino a little irritated in himself, he did not like to listen to his dark and annoying thoughts.

“How about we go check out the gym guys? It is supposed to not be that far from the library and the bus stop is only two blocks away around the corner of the kiosk, ” Tino asked them with a cheery smile, and a happy voice, wanting the mood to lift somewhat.

“Getting some air sounds really great right now! And I have been curious about the gym,” Chris said with a grin, as he stopped with his door opening.

“Should I stay behind? Since no one will be here if all of us leaves,” Berwald asked as he took out the ear buds.

“Come one Berwald. No one is going to rob us twice.” Chris said and jokingly boxed him on the shoulder, clearly ready to use some energy.

Berwald just glared down at Chris through his glasses, but he sighed in defeat after some time.

“Sure, lets go,” he said and put one ear bud back in.

Tino smiled and got his jacket from his room, Chris went and got his key from the coffee table and in the meantime did Berwald tie his shoes.

It was kind of weird, Berwald thought. Often had they done stuff like this all together after they moved in with each other. It felt like they were excluding Lukas.

Berwald hoped that Lukas would not get mad, but it was for the best that they went outside right now, with how Chris was at the moment.

He saw that Tino came out of his room with his white jacket in hand, Chris jumped over the couch to get to them, that earned a scowl from both of them. He just grinned and scratched the back of his head like he had done nothing wrong.

Tino and Chris got their shoes on and then they went outside.

The fresh cold air of late August hit them, and it seemed by just closing the door and starting to walk down the stairs did Chris become better already. They had for the most given up on using the elevator. It never seemed to want to work If it was too hot outside it stopped working for a good measure of time, and then it seemed to get used to it and start again. But when the weather changed did the elevator stop working again. It was like it needed time to adjust. So the stairs were the better option.

As they came down to the ground level did Tino hook his arms around Berwald and Chris’s arms. He was still feeling bad about suspecting Lukas and not staying home to wait for him, but he also felt a little happy to be doing something with the two other. Tino felt that if things were to go back to normal, then they could not just sit and wait for it to happen, they had to do something about it themselves as well.

So with two of his friends in hand did he start to walk to the corner where the kiosk stood.

As they rounded the corner did Tino notice that the kiosk was open from 7Am to 5Am, which meant that it would be open when they came back from inspecting the gym. He made  a mental note that he wanted to stop by there on their way home so that he could by buy some snacks for them all.

It was nice walking outside with Berwald and Chris, Tino thought. He held closer to them as he listened to them argue over who could lift the most. It was so typically of them to bicker over such silly things. Who could lift most, who made the best food, who could do their chores the fastest. They always made things into a competition, but Tino was sure it was not because they did not like each other. He saw them as two brothers, who gave the other attention by challenging them, and light hearted insulted each other, because that was how they showed that they cared.

He and Lukas was like brothers as well, he had to admit to himself. They shared secrets that no one else could know, they spent always a lot of time together because of their sleep dysfunction, and it had been like it from day one that they meet that they had just understood each other in a way.

Tino felt that he got a little sad. He was thinking again about Lukas, and he just got so worried and scared that things between them would change. He really should talk to Lukas about all this next time he sees him. He really just wanted to talk to Lukas.

But right now, they were going to have a fun trip to the gym.

As they came closer to the bus stop could they see that the bus was already there, and passengers were getting on and off. If they did not take that bus then they had to wait at least 20-30 minutes.

Chris got a glint in his eyes and he looked over at Berwald, he had the same glint. They nodded to each other and then they took off running to the stop.

Tino suddenly stood alone and was confused until he got what was happening, they were racing each other, like if they were still kids.

“Tino you got to hurry or you’ll be last and you won't catch the bus!” Chris shouted behind to him.

Tino took off running as well.

“Sorry! Wait for meeee!” Tino shouted after them.

As they all got on the bus, panting and gasping for air, did the doors close and the bus was now in motion. They did not expect it so they all fell down in a heap.

All the other passengers looked at the three weird people who had entered the bus in the last second.

Tino got up and apologized, then he paid for his ticket and sat down.

The other two got up as well, Chris laughing and Berwald scowling. They paid for their ticket as well, and then sat down with Tino.

“Man, that was fun! It was a great way to get out some stamina,”Chris laughed out.

“Idiot, you hadn’t needed to fall on me,” Berwald mumbled.

“Hey! I only fell because Tino fell on me!” Chris grumbled.

“Sorry!” Tino bowed in apology.

“No worries, Tino,” Chris said and hooked his arm around Tino’s shoulder.

“I’m just glad that neither of us had to hit the floor.” At that did Berwald look annoyed at Chris. Then he put the other ear bud into his ear and turned up the volume, blocking the world out.

They took no offense to it, knowing that it was his way to just relax a little and get some peace. Berwald did not like to deal a lot with people. He seemed to be okay with the three of them regularly enough, but people he did not know, or like, he often could not deal with for long.

They got off the bus a few stops later, and what first meet them was the main library. It had stood there for a few hundred years, not really that old compared to other libraries, but then again there had never been any use for them until a few centuries ago.

In front of the library and a few blocks ahead and behind, was there a pedestrian zone 1 , the Queen’s street. They knew that the gym was supposed to be on this street somewhere, but if it was up the Queen’s street or down it, that they did not know.

“So, where is the gym exactly?” Chris asked Tino.

“Oh, I have never been there myself , I just know that it is here somewhere,” Tino said.

“And when you say here somewhere then you mean?” he said and looked up and down the street.

“Someplace on this street,” Tino stated.

“So, we don’t really know then?” Berwald said as he took out his earbuds and looked at the other two. Seeming to be done listening to music for now.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Tino said embarrassed.

“Then let’s ask the librarians! They probably know!” Chris said and started to head for the building.

The other two just looked at each other and shrugged, he was not wrong in that assumption.

The library was so bright, was the first thing they noticed. The dark evenings and nights that had come after the midnight sun had left took some time to adjust to, and I was easier to notice how dark it had actually become when they first went out and then inside somewhere bright.

There were not many people to see inside, though they could be in the one of the reading rooms, on one of the other floors or just behind some of the shelfs on the main floor. The place was huge.

The librarian behind the counter seemed to have yet to notice them standing there. She was clearly too engulfed in the book she was reading. They all tilted their head to read what the title of the book was: LoveMess. Chris and Berwald thought not much about the title, believing it to be some romance novel. And thought they were not wrong in that assumption did they probably think the romance to be a little different than what The librarian and Tino knew it to be.

Tino looked away with a big blush and decide that he would look in some magazine until Chris had asked her about the gym.

Chris went up to the counter and coughed.

The lady looked up from her book and smiled pleasantly to him, looking down did she take a bookmark with small yellow birds on them and mark the page she was on. She then stood up and pushed her brown hair behind her ear and looked at Chris again.

“What can I help you with?” she said and smiled.

“Well, you see. I’m kinda new to this city and me and my friends,” Chris motioned to Berwald who stood behind him and Tino a little further away with  his face in a magazine. “We are trying to find a gym that is supposed to be someplace nearby,” Chris said and grinned

“Welcome to the city! I know which gym you're looking for, and it is not far away. If you just walk up Queen’s street then you’ll see Health 3 Fitness,” She said and smiled pleasantly again.

When all she got was a confused smile from Chris did she start to search under her counter. She brought out a map of the street and started to mark down the way they had to go.

“Here you go. If you follow the drawn in rout then you should find it in no time,” she said and handed him the tourist guide map.

“Thanks… uhh… emm-”

“-It’s Elizabeta.” She smiled.

“Thanks, Elizabeta!” Chris grinned back.

Chris and Berwald walked over to Tino, who had actually started to read the magazine he was holding.

“You find anything exciting?” Chris smiled and looked over Tino’s shoulder to look at what he was reading.

“I think this is the magazine Lukas has been talking about…” Tino said.

“It is the latest edition. It does not seem like he got published.” He added.

“You sure that it is the newest?” Berwald asked.

“Check the date, it came out today.” Tino held his thumb under the publishing date.

“Could explain why he has been so down. He was excited to get featured in that magazine,” Chris said.

“But, I know where we are supposed to go now. So let's get going,” he said, and started to walk to the door.

Tino put the magazine back where he had found it, and then did he and Berwald follow after Chris.

With the map in hand, was it not all that difficult to find the gym they had been looking for. And it also helped that the building had a big, lit up, logo on the front that read Health 3 Fitness.

On entering the gym, where they already impressed. The info board told them that the place had a weightlifting room, a room with various exercise machines, dance studio, spinning classes, and a swimming hall.

There were days that were assigned for males and females, and also some hours were reserved for different age groups. There was also the option to attend classes, and groups so that you didn’t have to exercise alone.

They liked it, especially when they saw that the price was not that bad either. They could either buy a exercise card that lasted for a month or a year. And then you had to decide if that was for the exercising rooms, the swimming hall, or both.

They did ask - or more like Chris asked -  if they could just take a look inside. The guy behind the desk said that he would have allowed it if they were an extra person on job, but they were short handed this evening. Chris totally understood that, and thanked the guy.

It was not a problem anyway. They were pretty sure that this was the place they would go to, and they also knew that they would buy a card that let the access the rooms and the swimming hall.

However, that would have to wait for another day. It was getting late and they did not have with them their wallets, except from Tino. They also wanted to get an answer from Lukas if he was going to join them or not, they did not want to exclude him. So, they started on the walk back to the bus stop.

As the Library came into view again, could they see two people exiting it. One of them was not familiar to Tino, but the other person. Maybe it had something to do by the way he walked or how he carried that laptop bag, but Tino felt like he knew that person. And for some reason he just got these chills. The two of them were walking to the bus stop, and as they got on the bus that stood there waiting, was Tino sure that he had seen that one person’s jacket. As they came closer did it click in Tino’s mind. It had to be Lukas.

But he realized something even worse as he saw the bus door close, that was their bus home…

Chris and Berwald in mid conversation about which country was the most badass during the viking ear, got truly confused as they saw Tino who had been quiet for some time now, start to run towards the bus stop.

But figuring that something must be up did they pick up their pace to keep up with him. It was not really that hard to catch up to him, Tino clearly being out of shape.

“Why are we running?” Berwald asked confused.

“That’s our bus home, and it’s leaving!” Tino half shouted as he pointed towards the number on the bus.

Both Chris and Berwald seemed to release it as they saw the familiar number.

However, is was too late. They were not that far away from it now, but the vehicle had already started to pull out into the road.

They reached the stop and saw the bus turn the corner. Breathing and gasping for air for the second time today could they do nothing but wait for the next bus to arrive.

In the meantime did Chris and Berwald resume their conversation, while Tino started to ponder if that person was Lukas. He just felt so familiar, with the way he walked and how he looked - at least out of what he had seen. Tino searched through his memory to try to remember what Lukas’s laptop bag looked like and what type of jacket he wore, but it stood still in  his mind suddenly.

It wouldn’t have been such an issue anyway if that was Lukas, had it not been for Tino’s night terrors. Lately, for about a week now had Tino’s Dreams not been about him, but his friends. Chris got often beat up by strangers, Berwald became ill, often deadly so, and Lukas, Lukas somehow got into shady business and the framed for it.

Tino knew that it was not like he was psychic or anything, but they just scared him so much that he wanted to avoid such scenarios no matter what.

“Chris, have you fought anyone lately?” Tino suddenly asked.

“What?” Chris said confused.

“Are you in conflict with anyone at the moment?” Tino asked.

“Umm… no?” Chris said, still kinda confused.

“And you Berwald? Are you feeling okay nowadays? Have you had a slight fever or maybe coughed?” Tino asked and felt that he was breathing faster.

“Tino, are you okay?” Berwald asked, getting worried?

“The question is not if I’m okay, it is: are you okay?” he almost cried out.

“No, I’m fine. What’s this about?” Berwald asked and looked to Chris to see if he knew anything. He just shook his head, not knowing what this was about either.

“Then what about Lukas? Has he meet someone new?” Tino continued.

“Tino we don’t know, he has been out all day and he never says where he has been or if he has been with someone. And you need to breath slower. Take it easy and tell us what’s going on,” Chris said and patted Tino on the shoulder.

“I just don’t want to lose anyone of you. But my dreams, they show me that you guys will leave me, one way or the other.” Tino sobbed out and felt warm tears stream down his cheeks. Then he took a deep breath and cried even more.

Chris and Berwald could do nothing but comfort Tino the best they could. They told him that the dreams were just that, dreams. They would stay with him, and not leave, thy didn’t promise that they would be here forever, that would be irresponsible.

They understood that this had to be some sort of backlash because Lukas had not been with Tino at night so that he could vent his feelings to him. They were not mad at Lukas, they just couldn’t be. They were however a little disappointed in him, and they felt the same for themselves, that they had not noticed Tino’s state.

The bus eventually came again and they all three went aboard. Tino wiped his tears and sat in the back of the bus. Chris and Berwald sat a little further ahead of him so that he could sit in peace.

None of them talked on the way back.

After he got off the bus did Tino start to feel better again. It had been some time since last time he had shared his night terrors with Lukas, so he understood that he had boiled over. After everything was okay again would Lukas probably feel bad that this happened, which made Tino feel bad now since he knew that he would make Lukas feel bad… it was not always easy being him.

As they rounded the corner did Tino think against walking inside the kiosk and instead just go home straight away since he felt tired now, but he really wanted snack now after he had cried.

He didn’t really find anything they would all like, so he bought three different snacks, salty snacks for Chris, Chocolate for Berwald and candy for him and Lukas. He made sure that it was the kind they both liked. He also bought some flowers he had remembered that Lukas had bought the day of the break-in. They were pretty and purple-pink. If Tino’s memory served him right they were ice plant flowers. He should really know this since he work in a flower shop, but crying made him sleepy.

He paid for the snack, candy and flowers. On exiting the shop could he see that Chris and Berwald was staring intensely at something, and it made them look worried.

“What’s going on, guys?” Tino asked, but as he saw to where they were looking did he not need them to answer, there were police cars outside of their apartment building again.

“You don’t think?” Berwald asked.

“Let’s go!” Chris shouted and ran to their home.

Tino and Berwald ran after.

Tino in his mind wished over and over again that this had nothing to do with them. It had just been a dream, he had to remind himself. Dreams were not real, this had nothing to do with them, all was good.

As they came to the driveway did the police come down with three people in handcuffs.

Berwald, Chris and Tino did not recognize the first two, but the third, in a jacket that Tino knew he had seen before came Lukas.

They had no idea what to say.

As Lukas saw up from the ground and locked eyes with them did he look… guilty.

“I promise that I can explain guys!” he shouted to them.

“I promise that this is not what it looks like.” He continued.

“Please believe in me!” He finished and looked down again as he was seated into the back of the police car.

As the car drove away, was Tino split between two facts, were he was sure one had to be real.

Either he was psychic or the flowers were cursed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for being patient for this chapter. I was unsure with what ending to choose so I got stuck when writing. But now everything should be back on track. I’m guessing that the next chapter will be the end or final for the break-in parts of this story.  
> I’m still taking suggestions on what could happen, in the next chapter or what should happen after the break-in parts. So feel free to share your ideas with me either in a review, in a message or on tumblr.
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Thanks as alway to BlessYou for being my Beta <3  
> Happiness 9/10  
> Stress 4/10
> 
> pedestrian zone - a street where you walk, mostly no vehicles allowed.
> 
> Thank you again for reading!


	5. Bad coffee, advice, a fight, and free again.

Tino was scared out of his mind. They had taken Lukas, actually arrested him and brought him to the police station. They thought he was guilty, and they had to have some form of evidence too, since they had made the arrest. It could not be true, it just could not. Lukas was one of Tino's best friends, and that did not mean that he could not do bad things from time to time, but bad enough to be arrested? No, not Lukas.

Tino was sitting in the waiting area of the police station, having followed after the officers right after he had understood what had happened, what Lukas in handcuffs meant. He usually never drove at night, his own personal rule, but for his friends it could be broken. As he had arrived at the station had he asked, or rather, demanded to know what the charges against his friend were.

Grand larceny, trespassing and conspiracy of theft. Tino was not an expert when it came to the law, but he was sure that those charges would mean more than a fine.

He sipped from the coffee he had been given as he had been asked to wait. Officer Williams who had explained everything to Tino thus far had also said that they were supposed to get some more information from them, Tino, Chris and Berwald in the morning. However, since Tino was right here would he like to question him now. What the officer had meant with now was beyond him, since Tino was about to finish his coffee. And it was not good coffee either, it was too warm and too bitter. The bitter kind, were it tastes like they have not changed the filter in the coffee machine for some time…

* * *

Chris was walking down the streets again, but this time alone. As Tino had taken one of the cars and driven off to probably plea for Lukas's innocence had he turned and walked away from it all. He just could not take this again. Berwald had not tried to stop him either, probably knowing that it was a bad idea to do so.

The streets seemed darker now that he was alone, they seemed emptier and more dangerous. He knew that he should not get that craving anymore, since he stopped so long ago. He stopped because of them, his real friends, who cared, but now that it was all coming apart, came that craving back. He really wanted to fight. To get hurt and hurt others.

He knew that if he did end up in a fight tonight would he make Tino sad, and Berwald angry, and Lukas… he did not care what Lukas would think.

It was also the fact that this was all too creepy. It was like the same thing. Chris had been friends with others in the past, those he would fight with, and he thought that he had gotten real good friend among them, but then the same guy had turned against him and tried to steal all his stuff. Chris beat the guy bad. He had been too young at that point for the police to charge him, but they did send him to a school meant to make him a better person for the society. It was actually there he started to play that fantasy game that in the end made them all meet and become friends.

He had not noticed, but lost in thoughts had he walked the whole way back to the Queen's street, and there were more people here now than when the three of them had been here earlier. Maybe he was not the only one out here who was looking for trouble…

* * *

Berwald was confused as he unlocked their apartment door, and found nothing to be missing inside. As he searched every room except for the bedrooms that were not his, could he find nothing that had been taken. The police officers seemed to have all left, but there was one car left when he had gone up the stairs. So the question was, where was the crime scene?

Where had they arrested Lukas and those other two? Had they tried to rob the place under them? Though Berwald had seen no sign of it as he walked up to their apartment.

As Berwald was getting more and more confused about what had happened did he start to worry as well. Tino had driven off right away, without a word. And Chris, Chris could be in trouble as well. The eyes he had shown as he had walked away were scary. Berwald hoped that he was wrong, but it had looked like Chris was going out to find someone to fight. Hopefully it being a Tuesday it meant that there were not that many people out at this time of the night.

As he walked to the kitchen to put on some coffee could he feel dust fall on him. As he looked up on the ceiling could he see more of it fall down, and that was when he could hear it. Steps. Someone was walking in the apartment above them.

When they had first gotten here had their landlord told them that no one lived over them. That the apartment there was just an empty room. The previous resident there had destroyed the place so bad that the landlord did not have the money to repair it. It was not like the apartment was going to fall down on them, but the place was apparently a wreck.

Was it there that Lukas had been arrested? Berwald had to go and check it out, if it could lead him to the truth then he had to know…

* * *

How a room can look so much alike a cop Tv show was beyond Lukas. The metal table, the one way glass, and a grumpy looking officer sitting across from him. Really all the officer missed was a cigar or a cigarette that puffed out smoke. Maybe he would have laughed if he did not feel so scared and helpless.

He also at a moment like this managed to feel awkward, he had no idea where he was supposed to look. The grumpy officers from a few days ago was a clear no, the mirror felt weird to look at because he could see how scared he looked, and the rest of the room was just empty. In the end did he just decide that he would look down at his shackled hands. He really just wished that he had asked his friends for help earlier, than let it all end up like this. He knew that he had screwed up and that he had done wrong, but he had also thought that he could fix this. However, what would happen after all this? Could his friends still trust him? Did they still want to live with him? What if they threw him out? Where would he find a new place to live so fast? Did they still see him a friend?

Lukas was suddenly brought back to the room and away from his thoughts as he heard a big bang on the table. As he looked up did the officer look furious.

"Listen to me dammit! Or are you ignoring me!?" the officer yelled at Lukas.

"I'm using, as 'you' called it, my right to remain silent," Lukas said defensively.

That was apparently the wrong answer as the officer slammed the table once again, got up and left out the door. Lukas had not meant to 'ignore' him, but he had not really wanted to talk to that grumpy officer either. Now he was alone, and who knew how long he would stay like that…

* * *

It had been 10 minutes after Tino had finished that awful coffee, and he was still waiting for officer Williams that had wanted to ask some questions. Tino knew that the adrenalin and the fear had started to seep out of him a long time ago. It was good in some way, because he was not so nervous and fidgety now, however he felt that he was sleepier and not so alert now.

There had been more officers around when he first came into the building, but as he had sat here waiting had more and more officers left. Around this time did the station seem almost empty, but that could not be true. He had not seen officer Williams, who had wished to talk to him, leave, and there always had to be at least like 3 officers in the station at all times. Right?

Tino suddenly was struck with an unease. Why was he here? He had no proof that Lukas was innocent, and he no longer knew what he should believe of his night partner. Lukas had told them all to believe in him, that he could explain, but if that was the case then why was he still being held somewhere in the station and not a free man by now? Holding his head in his hands he just felt so exhausted suddenly and tired. They had only lived together for 26 days. From 1st august to the 26th of august. That was not a long time without incidents.

"I'm so sorry Mr.Väinämöinen. I had a lot of paperwork and.. And are you okay?" officer William from before asked. He had finally com back.

"No, yeah, I don't know. I'm just tired, that's all," Tino tried to explain, but he felt depressed and tired so he did not think he was explaining himself any good.

The officers small look of confusion and worry proved that.

"I have just brewed more coffee, you want a cup?" The officer asked good heartedly.

Tino made a face of almost disgust and displeasure.

"Oh yeah! Sorry about the previous cup of coffee, Someone must have forgotten to change the filter again, so it probably wasn't any good. But I guarantee that this time it will taste somewhat better…" the officer said and gave off a shy smile.

"Coffee is coffee sometimes, you know."

"If it is in any way better than the previous cup than I'll gladly drink it," Tino said and went with officer Williams…

* * *

Chris had found a bench and was just observing what all the people here was doing. Some were drunk and sung their heart out to some known song, or at least known to them. Chris had no idea what song they were supposed to try to perform. Others here seemed to be homeless, they were rummaging in the trashcans, looking for bottles probably, or other things of value that someone might have thrown away. Then he could obviously see those who were addicts and were meeting up with their dealers to get that fix they needed. Even though the Queens street was a known large street had he yet to see any officer patrol here. They were probably too busy locking up his friend… or, more like someone who used to be his friend. There were also a few groups that had to be young kids that was outside at this time of night to get a thrill. Then you had the people that Chris had come here to find, those that were looking for trouble.

Some of the drunkard were clearly wanting to let off some steam in a fight as well, but that would be too easy, even if he had not fought in years. Then you had these young kids, probably in their teens that wanted to show off to their friends. And then you had the adults here that were not homeless or drunk or on drug that just wanted a good fight.

Chris was unsure of why he did not get up and go fight one of those adults. He knew that he had almost no chance of winning and at high risk of getting arrested or having to sleep on the streets.

Maybe it was those kids that made him not want to fight. He had been like them. Been young and stupid, going out late at night to find other kids to fight with, and sometimes even adults, thought they almost always lost to them. And as he had gotten older had alcohol been involved. They had alway felt braver then and done a lot more stupid stuff.

"Well. You look like you're about to make a stupid choice." A woman voice said as someone sat down beside him.

Chris looked over and saw that it was the librarian they had seen previous today. She seemed to have finished the book she was reading previously and had started on something new. He at first thought he would not pay any mind to her or her comment, but when he looked back could he see that more people were looking their way.

"Not to sound sexist or anything, but should you be out here at this time of night?" Chris said, not that concerned, but more curious, since she did not seem to heed any of the stares.

"I'm waiting for an idiot, and I thought I could in the meantime advice you to not do anything stupid. Since you seem to considering starting a fight with those men over there." She said and continued to read from her book in the dim street light that was over them.

Chris was about to say something else, when one of the drunkards started to run towards them…

* * *

The officer that was standing outside of the top apartment door looked to bored out of her mind. She was yawning, rubbing her eyes and shifting weight from one foot to the other. Berwald wanted to go and ask her if this was where they had arrested Lukas and those other two, and if then that meant that some of their stuff were inside there. However, Berwald had never been good with words or at looking friendly. He knew that he had wanted to know what really happened, but he just could not manage to get up the last steps on the stairs. In the end did he breathe out a sigh and go down again to their apartment.

What he had not expected was to see someone stand outside their front door, much like how the officer upstairs was standing. Though this guy was smoking from a churchwarden pipe, wearing a blue and white scarf and looking irritated.

"Should I be worried that someone is creeping on my sister?" he asked and blew out some smoke.

"Huh?" was all Berwald managed to say. What was the stranger talking about, he had only been upstairs to try to talk to the officer, but then he had not managed to do so. But, if he thought about it, he might have stood in the staircase for sometime and looked creepy. Chris and Lukas would often tease him for such thing, when it looked like he was staring intensely at something or someone, when he was actually just lost in thoughts.

"I'm asking why you are creeping on my sister, or are you a moron of some kind?" this time the stranger half shouted at Berwald.

Berwald had no idea of what to do. He had never been good at solving any kind of conflict and especially when people got mad at him and started to shout. He knew that he should just explain himself, but no word managed to come out. He was completely paralyzed on the spot without being able to do anything or say anything.

"What going on down here?"this time a female voice said.

The officer that had stood in front of the top floor apartment had come down and the man who was shouting at him was coming closer. Berwald stood ready, knowing that he would most likely get hit or yelled more at, so he braced himself for the physical or the verbal attack…

* * *

He could not believe what he was hearing. After having waited for so long inside the interrogation room where they suddenly deciding to just let him go? Why? Did it mean that Allistor had confessed, or was it Dylan who had taken the blame?

He would probably find out soon enough, and in the meantime would he not fight the officer's judgment on letting him go, since he had technically not done anything wrong. Walking past that grumpy officer who clearly was against this did Lukas feel somewhat smug, not that he dared to show that.

Outside stood Tino, and Lukas could feel a surge of happiness warm him. However what Lukas had not noticed was that Tino was talking to an officer. As Lukas came closer to them both could he recognize the officer as one of the people who had arrested him and the two others in the top apartment. He did not want to feel bitter or anything like that, but he thought that Tino was being really familiar with the guy and cheerful as well. But, the best thing was probably not to get angry around a police station in the middle of the night.

Tino noticed Lukas approaching and waved him to come to him and the officer he was standing with.

"Lukas, I'm so glad that everything worked out. I was so afraid and split between what I felt, oh and, this is Officer Williams. He helped me understand the situation and to get you out," Tino explained cheerfully. Officer Williams seemed to shy somewhat away from the praise he was given.

"Helped get me out? How?" Lukas sounded skeptic.

"Well I think it's better if we first get home and then everyone can help explain since everyone had something to do with all of this," Tino said and took Lukas hand and walked him to where the car was.

"Everyone you say?" Lukas was shocked.

"Everyone and then some more again," Tino said with a happy smile.

"Will.. Umm.. Officer Williams be coming as well?" Lukas wanted to know, still not sure what he felt about the police.

"He said that he will try. Though he has some more paperwork now," Tino turned around and waved at officer Williams who had started to go inside the station again.

The car ride home was unusual quiet for the two of them. Lukas had tried to fish for information to know what Tino meant, but Tino never gave a clear answer. It was also unusual to see Tino drive so calmly, especially since it was night and dark outside.

They arrived quickly at the apartment complex and Tino parked on the spot that was free.

As they exited the car and started to head up the stairs did Lukas notice that the elevator was actually functioning for once, which he found ironic enough to want to laugh.

As they walked into their apartment did not Lukas expect to see that many people inside. He had known that Chris and Berwald was going to be here, but why was the librarian from the central public library here? Why was Gilbert here? What were their downstairs neighbors doing here and when did one of them become a cop?

Lukas was really confused. How had his friend with the help from these people gotten him cleared as Innocent?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah, hmmm, hello.  
> So I finally finished this chapter were I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had everything planned out, but because no one is togehter in this chapter before the end was it difficoult to know how I should write it, but it became like this in the end and I'm happy with it.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, it mean a lot to me.  
> And thanks to BlessYou for Betaing.
> 
> Happiness: 8/10  
> Stress: 5/10
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


	6. How it all went down (Break-in part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finaly finish up with how it all went down.

Lukas took a sip from his coffee knowing that he would need all the caffeine he could get tonight. He had taken with him a chair from the kitchen since the couch was occupied by everyone else. So now he was sitting right in front of where the Tv would have stood. Hopefully it would be back in not too long.

No one was really talking much to one another, which told Lukas that not many people here knew each other. Well… Gilbert was stalking, but he was doing so in German, so it was not easy to know how many really knew what he was saying or if he was making any sense really.

Abel was sitting on the couch right across from Lukas, the same did Bella and Berwald as well. On the couch on Lukas’s right side sat Elizabeta, Gilbert, Chris and then Tino. If Lukas had to guess he would bet that Berwald was the first to drag people into their apartment, even how unlikely that sounded on a normal day, but this was far from such a day. He was sure of this because how neatly everything had been sat out and the fact that the kitchen was not a mess, he was after all the one in charge of keeping that place clean this week. Not that Chris could not be tidy and all that, but Lukas just had a feeling. Another guess that Lukas had was that Abel for some reason was not that fond of Berwald, he had been glaring at him and sending dirty looks all the time Lukas had been there. Bella sat as a shield in the middle, often jamming her elbow into Abel when she caught him in the act.

Elizabeta seemed to have noticed this, just like Lukas, but she seemed to not know neither what it was all about, and she looked to have enough trouble with Gilbert anyway. He was drunk still, Lukas had smelled the alcohol as he had come into the living room. Far from pleasant was it, but it had faded after some time, or Lukas had just gotten more used to it. Chris had regained color in his cheeks after Lukas’s arrival. It was one of the other reasons that Lukas suspected why he had not come first, his cheeks had been red from cold, the same had Elizabeta’s and Gilbert’s been too. Well… Gilbert was still red, but he was probably not cold, just wasted.

Poor Tino looked as if he did not like to have a drunk person in their living space. He was shifting nervously and looking at Gilbert often.

Lukas had to admit that they were an odd bunch that was sitting here in his and his friends living room.

“So,” Lukas started to say. The room went quieter than it had already been, even Gilbert was silent suddenly.

“How did you all get me free from all charges?” Lukas asked anyone in the room that had an answer.

Everyone seemed to shift in their seat and was looking at each other, but no one spoke up. This surprised Lukas honestly.

“You guys know how, right?” Lukas tried again.

Again, the room was quiet and no one answered, thought Gilbert had started to mumble sing.

Lukas sighed and pour himself a new cup of coffee, as he noticed that the pot was empty did he get up to start to brew some more. He stood in the kitchen and just could not make the puzzle go up himself.

As he returned with a full pot and sat down did Bella speak up.

“How about you tell us what happened, and we might figure out together where each one of us fit in,” she said. Lukas found the logic to make sense. He took a sip from the new brewed coffee, knowing that he would need all the energy he could get to tell the story of how he got mixed with those thieves.

* * *

Lukas had not slept from the night of the break in to the next day, having felt guilty as he could feel. But the closer morning came, his guilt was not the only thing that grew, but also this anxiety to see his friends. He just felt like he could not face them. In the end had he left his room early in the morning to get out of the house. It was at that point he had seen a light under the couch and he had found his cell phone. He had also found it strange that it had not been taken, but he saw it as just being lucky. He was going to tell his friends about it later on, but right there and then had he felt that he had to get outside.

His early morning walk lead him to the library. Outside had he seen someone sleeping on a bench, he would have toughed of it to just be a homeless person, but the clothes the man worn were too nice. He had approached the man to see if he was okay, but when he saw the empty beer can did he think better of it. He had no interest in dealing with a drunk person so early in the morning. And anyway it was not really cold outside anyways so it was not like he was going to freeze to death.

He had taken with him his laptop out of habit, and had found a secluded place in the library where he was sure he would not be bothered. Maybe if he worked on that article for that magazine he could use the money to buy his friends some new stuff.

With some motivation, Lukas started to type.

It was while he was taking a writing break that he noticed some people had take up some seats on the other side of the shelf. He could not really see any of them, but it was hard not to hear them talk.

“We did far from bad this time,” one of them said.

“It will probably keep us all fed for some time, we don’t have to worry,” the other voice spoke, and Lukas could hear that something was being spun on the table, a coin or a ring perhaps.

“But, how are going to get everything out? That elevator won't work.” Whatever was being spun stopped.

“We’ll get it down eventually, we just gotta be smart about it.”The spinning started up again.

Lukas knew that it was bad to listen in on other people's conversations, so he wet back to his writing, but he had maybe typed 20-25 words when he heard something hit the floor and roll to his side.

So it was a coin he taught and picked it up by his foot where it had landed.

A man came around from the corner of the shelf, Auburn hair, green eyes, and ear ring in one air, and a unlit smoke on his lips.

Just like Lukas was looking the stranger up and down did he do the same.

“Ummm, sorry, but that coin is mine,” he said and reached out his and.

“Maybe spinning it one the table is not that smart then,” Lukas said and flipped the coin back to him.

“Sorry, we kinda thought that no one was this far back.” He seemed sincere, so Lukas would not get irritated with him.

“It is okay. I was thinking about leaving anyway, it’s hard to write when people are talking,” Lukas in a way lied, but it was not like the stranger would know that he was.

“Heh, sorry again then.” He scratched the back of his head.

Lukas started to pack up his stuff, and as he was about to leave did he notice that the stranger had yet to go back to his friend but to the other table.

“Sorry? Did you need anything else, because I only found one coin,” Lukas asked.

“Yeah, sorry to have to ask this, but did you… did you like, listen in to our conversation?” he asked himself.

Lukas for some reason had a feeling that he should be careful about what he said here and now. He had not heard anything that had caused him suspicion, but still.

“Only that you have an elevator that don’t want to work, which I can relate to, since mine doesn't either,” Lukas said and thought a little.

“Is non working elevators a part of this city or something like that?”

The man laughed.

“Sometimes I have to wonder that for myself,” he said.

“Sorry didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything, just…umm… yeah, I got no real explanation…” he said and looked to be somewhat annoyed with himself.

“Sometimes we don’t always need and explanation,” Lukas said as a way of comfort and that he did not really mind.

He walked away from that small strange encounter.

As he left the library could he see that the man on the bench was still there. Lukas really wanted to just walk away, it really was none of his business, but he could see that it was going to rain soon. He looked to the clouds, then to the sleeping man, and then back to the clouds. He sighed and went over to him.

“Excuse me sir,” Lukas tried to wake the man by lightly shoving him.

“Sir, it’s going to rain,” he continued.

A groan came from the sleeping man, hinting to the fact that he was slowly starting to awaken.

“Elizabeta? Are you done at work now?” the man asked and got up from his sleeping position.

“I’m not this Elizabeta,”  Lukas said and tried to not breath in the alcohol stench that came with the man getting up.

“Then don’t bother me if you aren’t her!” the man was now angry it seemed.

Lukas cursed inside himself. He knew he should not have cared, he should just have let this stranger get soaked in the rain. Now he had an angry half drunk person shouting at him and people were starting to stare. Of course no one was going to come help him, he knew that much about city life. However, he had no idea how he was supposed to get out of this. Lukas seriously felt like he would start to cry out of frustration soon, nothing had gone right for him these past days. So it was a real blessing when he was wrong, and two people actually came to help.

“Dude, he was just trying to help you. Instead of cursing of the small blessing that is human decency, you should be grateful.” An auburn haired man said, green eyes, one ear pierced and a lit smoke now dangling from his lips.

A man was behind him, he looked to be bored by what was going on, but Lukas could tell that it was just his resting face that made him look like that.

The man on the bench seemed to be about to say something when a loud voice was heard.

“GILBERT!” a woman was heard shouting from the crowd.

“Are you causing trouble again!?”

The man on the bench, Gilbert, visibly froze up.

“No,” he said in a way to defend himself, but it must have been too late. The woman from the library emerged from the crowd and she looked to be absolutely pissed.

However, the scariest thing was not how pissed she was, but how fast she went back to looking kind and pleasant, when she apologized to Lukas and the two others because Gilbert had bothered them.

Lukas mumbled a “It’s fine.” And then he started to walk away, not really wanting to stand there anymore.

He was halfway to the bus stop when two figures appeared on each side of him.

“We’re even now I presume?” the man from the library asked as he flipped the coin as he walked. Lukas was sure that he was going to lose it again.

“Sorry, but what do you mean?” he asked, not really getting what he meant with ‘even’.

“You were helpful in the library, I was being rude, felt like I owed you one. So, Gilbert was being an ass again and I came to help. Even,” he stated.

Lukas kind of understood what the man meant.

“Thanks then.” Lukas said and got under the shed for the bus stop.

“I’m taking that you know that guy?”

“Gilbert? Yeah. He has a bad alcohol problem and his on and off girlfriend, Elizabeta does what she can, but poor girl she deserves better.” He told the story without much sympathy it seemed. Often you just don’t go around and tell people about such things.

“Oh, and by the way. I’m Allistor,” the man said as he introduced himself and finally stopped flipping the coin.

“Lukas.” Lukas said, unsure of why yet again this stranger and his friend was following him.

“So the librarian was Elizabeta?” Lukas felt compelled to ask?

“Yeah.” Allistor answered short.

Lukas was rummaging through his bag on a search for his cell phone.

“Not to be rude, but was there anything else you needed from me?” Lukas asked as he  felt he got more annoyed as he could not find his phone.

“Yeah, you left this at the table.” Allistor said and pointed to his friend who was holding Lukas’s phone.

“Dylan found it.” He said and flipped his coin.

Dylan handed the phone over to Lukas and he yet again gave a mumbled “Thank you.”

“Now we will finally leave you in peace,” Allistor said.

“Sorry, I did not mean to be rude,” Lukas said in apology.

“It’s okay,” Allistor said and gave a smile.

“Nice to have meet you,” Allistor said and offered his hand.

“You too,” Lukas shook his hand and Dylan’s as well.

As the two started to leave could Lukas see the bus arrive.

* * *

 

“Wow, that guy on the bench sounds like douche!” Gilbert interrupted the story.

Lukas had avoided saying names and what Allistor had said about Gilbert alcohol problem and that Elizabeta deserved better.

“That was you, you idiot!” Elizabeta exclaimed.

“Oh.” Gilbert did not seem to like the thought of him being the rude drunk on the library bench, but how he did not get that was beyond Lukas.

“So, you came home early yesterday? But I heard you come in late at night.” Tino asked, seeming to be confused.

* * *

 

As Lukas came home did he notice that his friend would not be home in an hour and half. He decided that he would take a shower and then find something to eat. He felt a little bad that he had not gone shopping in a while, it was after all his responsibility. He would at least clean the bathroom then, since that was also one of his chores these two weeks.

He had just scrubbed the last of the tiles when Lukas taught he heard the door. When he went out to see he could find no one, but on the floor there was dust…

Now Lukas did far from doubt Tino’s ability in cleaning the living room, so the dust could not have been there for long.

Lukas checked around the apartment, but it did not seem like anyone except him was home.

Then he heard the door again, but he was in view of their front door so it was not that one who had closed. He was truly puzzled at the moment, and as he checked the time, did he see that none of his friend would be done yet at work.

He thought he saw something in the front door window, and as he opened the door, did he spot one thing at first sight. There were wet footprints on the stairway. Both the way up and down. Which meant that someone had been upstairs thought the landlord said that no one should be up there.

Lukas thought about it for maybe two seconds, then he got on his shoes again and went upstairs.

Someone had been inside the apartment that had been destroyed, that was sure. The wet footprints led to the door and then they stopped. But when Lukas tried the door was it locked.

It could have been the landlord, Lukas thought.

As he went down could he smell smoke, but not the apartment is on fire kind, more the tobacco kind. He went down to their downstairs neighbor’s floor, and there stood a tall blond haired man, with a churchwarden pipe and scarf around his neck, even though it was just August.

“Excuse me, but have you been on the upstairs floor?” Lukas asked.

The man having noticed him coming down looked at Lukas and then blew out some smoke.

“Can’t say I have,” he said like he did not care.

“Did you see someone come down just now?” Lukas asked another question.

“Some guy with reddish-blond hair. Why?” he asked this time.

“Sorry, it’s just that the landlord told us not to go upstairs to the upper apartment, so when I heard someone being there I guess I got curious,” Lukas answered.

“Oh, you are one of those who got robbed,” the man deadpanned out.

“Yeah,” Lukas said and looked uncomfortable.

The door by the man's side opened and a woman came out looking sour.

“Do you have to smoke today, when I have a headache?” She said not to happy.

“Sorry,” the man said and emptied his pipe in an ashtray they had outside by the stairs.

“Who’s he?” the woman then suddenly asked.

“Our upstairs neighbor,” the man answered before Lukas could get a word in.

She came more outside of the door, in pajamas and slippers and reached out her hand.

“I’m Bella, and this is my brother Abel,” she seemed to cringe out a smile, her head ached clearly not treating her well.

“Lukas.” He answered and took her hand, giving it a light shake.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you all. I still find it hard to believe that no one saw anything of how it happened.”

“Yeah.” Lukas did not really know what to say.

“Well Lukas, it was nice to meet you but my head is trying to kill me so I’m going back inside to lie down on the couch,” she said and starting another smile.

“And brother dear?” she said with sweet tone.

“Hmmm?” he looked at here.

“Can you make me some soup?” she again said with that sweet voice.

Abel only looked at here and then went inside, she went after him and waved to Lukas before she closed the door.

Lukas stood there for some time, smelling the faint trace of smoke, hearing the rain fall down, and someone trying to make the elevator do something. He chuckled, it was never going to work in this kind of weather.

He went outside again with his umbrella, deciding that he would just take a walk. He had not meant to come home so late at night but he had gotten lost in thoughts.

* * *

 

Lukas got up to brew more coffee yet again. So far had no one really fitted in the story of how he got released, which meant that it must all have happened on the day he got arrested. Which was only a handful of hours ago

He came back with the now full again pot and sat it down on the table.

“So you forgot your phone after you had come back home from the library?” Berwald asked.

Lukas nodded.

“But none of this explain anything,” Chris said.

“Then let me go on to the day I got arrested.” Lukas sipped from his coffee and started.

* * *

 

Lukas awoke early in the morning, he had slept maybe 2 - 3 hours, but he knew he would not sleep anymore today anyways so he got up from his bed. He had this feeling of guilt since he came home late yesterday, like he had avoided his friends. He had meant to stay up with Tino as usual, but after having walked for so many hours had he actually felt like sleeping, of course sleep had arrived much later and then he had only slept the bare minimum.

As he looked outside could he see that the rain had stopped, and it seemed like it would be a nice day today. Seeing as the anxiety had come back, the same from yesterday, did he not really feel like waiting for his friend to wake up. Instead he thought he would rather repeat yesterday and go to the library again.

Walking to the library from the bus stop could he see that the bench was empty today, which made Lukas somewhat happy. As he entered the building could he see a familiar face, Elizabeta the librarian. She seemed to recognize Lukas and came over to him.

“Hey, I just want to apologize for my boyfriend. You were just being nice and trying to help, but he is not like that always. He can be kind, it is just that we fought and he was mad all day that day,” she explained and looked sincere.

“It’s okay, I understand that alcohol can change people,” Lukas said and felt like he had said something wrong when Elizabeta looked to get a sad downcast look.

“Yeah, it can.” She said with a small voice.

“Oh, and there was something I wanted to tell you if I saw you again.” She said and seemed to forget that she was just sad right now.

“Those two guys you were with yesterday, they are bad news. You should stay away from them.” She said this time serious.

Lukas thanked her for her advice and started to walk inside to where he had been yesterday, Luckily the table was empty, except from a magazine that laid on it.

Lukas’s heart sank as he saw it. It was the magazine he had been writing for these past two weeks, hoping to get published. He had forgotten to send in his article yesterday, having gotten caught into so much the previous day.

He was about to leave, but when he saw Gilbert at the main desk did he not really feel like having to go past him and Elizabeta. So he made a U-turn and went to find another place he could be at in the library. Thinking about it did he realize that he had yet to be upstairs, maybe because there were mostly science books and school books up there. However it probably had some secluded spaces there too.

Going up the stairs did he look around some and he could hear someone talking behind some shelves. So he went the opposite way of the talking, not wanting to disturb anyone or be disturbed himself.

From the place he had found could he see down to the main desk and know when Gilbert had left, then he could leave himself. Lukas decided that he would just sit with his phone and maybe play some relaxing games on it to make the time go by.

After half an hour had Gilbert yet to move from where he stood. Him and Elizabeta were too far away for Lukas to know what they were talking about, but it seemed like she was finding his story funny since she seemed to laugh often as he talked.

Lukas was starting to think about just leaving, maybe neither of them would notice him if he left. He had put his phone securely back into his bag when someone sat down on a chair beside him.

“Lovely weather we are having?” Allistor said, a new unlit smoke dangling from his lips.

“Oh, you again?” Lukas said, but realized soon how rude that had sounded.

“I mean I can just walk away. Clearly I’m not wanted,” he made a motion to leave.

“Sorry, sorry. I did not mean for it to sound so rude,” Lukas clarified.

“Nah it’s okay,” he said and looked to the main desk.

“Not wanting to leave?”

“Is it that obvious?” Lukas asked-.

“I get it, Gilbert is no fun when he is like that, but he seems better today so he will probably not snap at you like he did yesterday.” He turned and waved towards Gilbert, getting a wave back from the man.

“Elizabeta, the librarian here, said that I should stay away from you? Why is that? You seem to be on good terms with her boyfriend,” Lukas asked, not understanding what she could have against this man.

“Well you know, some people take their luck for granted and don’t want to understand when others have to gain the same luck by doing unorthodox stuff sometimes…” Allistor said and seemed to be thinking about something that made him angry and sad at the same time. Pained anger, Lukas thought.

After that it went quiet between them, Lukas not knowing what to say, and Allistor seeming to be annoyed with himself again.

“Yo, Scottie!” a loud cheerful voice said.

Gilbert had come up the stairs to where Lukas and Allistor sat. Lukas was sure that Scottie had to be a nickname on Allistor, by how he groaned at the name.

“Seriously Gilbert you gotta stop calling me that, I lost the accent ages ago.” He groaned in annoyance.

Gilbert only grinned a grin that could rival Chris’s and then he sat down with the two.

“Hey you, names Gilbert. See you know Scottie, he is awesome, but not as awesome as me of course.” Gilbert said and reached out a hand to Lukas.

“We have already meet,” Lukas said and did not shake Gilbert’s hand.

That made Gilbert stare long and hard on Lukas, he was clearly trying to remember where they had meet before. However he seemed to draw at a blank.

“When?” he asked shortly.

“Yesterday,” Lukas answered just as short.

He seemed to think it over some more and then the dawn of realization hit him.

“Right, right. You tried to wake me up because it was going to rain… sorry about that.” His apology seemed sincere, Lukas would maybe forgive him.

Since Gilbert was no longer blocking his exit did Lukas find that it was high time to go. As he stood up did Allistor ask.

“You leaving already?”

“Yes.” Came a short answer from Lukas.

“Awww, seriously?” Gilbert whined.

“What?” Lukas asked defensibly.

“I still feel like I was a douchebag.” Gilbert said and looked down.

“I know, let me buy you breakfast!” he said, looking up again with a grin.

“Don’t you have girlfriend?” Allistor teased.

“No! Not like that! It’s not that you aren’t awesome looking dude, like no homo,” Gilbert started.

“But I still feel bad and want to make it up to you,” he continued.

Lukas did actually feel hungry since he had not made any food at home before he left. However, he was not sure he wanted to be alone with a guy that actually said: no homo. So, he thought some about it, and made up his mind.

“Okay, you can buy me breakfast, but Allistor has to come with, since he helped me yesterday,” Lukas said, liking his decision.

“Hey, I helped you, because you helped me. If you make him buy me food I’ll have to owe you another one,” Allistor argued.

“Great, let’s go!” Gilbert said, and dragged an unwilling Allistor with him.

* * *

 

“Oh yeah! I remember that lunch,” a sobering Gilbert said.

“He just said that it was a breakfast!” Elizabeta sighed.

“The food was good,” Gilbert continued.

“You left…” Lukas said.

“Who,” Gilbert said.

“You did.” Lukas sighed.

“Oh yeah! Elizabeta called and I left you and Allistor… did you two have a nice lunch?” Gilbert said clearly not yet fully sober. Elizabeta sighed yet again.

“What happened then?” she asked.

* * *

 

Lukas and Allistor had finished their breakfast that had been sponsored by Gilbert who had left 2 minutes after they had found a table in the cafe. They were now walking down the streets just talking about nothing.

After some time did they part ways, Lukas saying that he needed to go home and Allistor said that he also had stuff to do.

Lukas had felt bad about not having gone groceries shopping this week, so he was going to do that now. He bought the most basic things first, breed, milk, cheese and such, but then he also thought of buying some ice cream and snacks for everyone as well. Maybe they could have a movie night when they got their Tv back.

As Lukas came around the corner with the car could he see a familiar face walk into their driveway, Dylan. He was wondering what Allistor’s friend was doing here, and as he turned into the driveway and parked at their empty spot could he see that Dylan was messing with the elevator before he started to go up the stairs.

Lukas got somewhat suspicious and took his time to get out of the car and to get his groceries. He walked upward to his floor and could see that Dylan had walked up to the upper apartment. Lukas unlocked their door and went inside, got the groceries to where they should be and then he just sat on the couch and listened.

Someone was definitely in the apartment above, but what was he doing there?

Lukas waited until he had seen Dylan leave, then Lukas once again left himself. He had someone he had to talk to.

As he walked down stair did he meet Bella.

“Hi Neighbor!” she greeted cheerfully.

“Oh, hey!” Lukas said in a hurry.

“What’s the rush?” She said and blocked the way for Lukas, a mischievous grin on her face.

Lukas really had no time for this.

“I think I have solved it! The robbery!” he blurted out.

“Oh!” was all Bella said as Lukas stormed past her and out into the street.

* * *

 

As Lukas arrived at the library was he glad that it seemed like Elizabeta was at work at all times. There were a lot more people in the building at this time of day he noted, and so he was unsure how he would go about doing this.

However, sometimes the best way is to just not think so much about it all.

“Elizabeta, I need to talk to you,” he said as he approached the counter.

She seemed somewhat confused, but none the less she lead him to the backroom understanding that he wanted to talk to her privately

“What is it?”she asked concerned.

“Those two you warned be about. Why did you do it, what have they done?” Lukas asked, clearly needing an answer.

“Who? Allistor and Dylan?” she asked and Lukas nodded as “Yes”.

“Well I can’t say much about Dylan, really. However, since he hangs out with Allistor as much as he does and after what I have heard the so often talking about I think he is a part of it. You see, I have often caught Allistor stealing books. They are about how alarms are made and fixed, books about lock picking and locks, and such things.” She explained.

“They are thieves?” Lukas asked, having had his suspicion.

“Yes, that is what I believe. But I have never heard of them being caught or anything so,” she continued.

“Damn!” was all Lukas could say.

“What is going on?”

“Nothing, I have to go.”

Lukas hurried out of the library and to the bus stop. He sat down under the shed and waited for the bus.

Waiting was agonizing slow and he really had no time for this, he had solved it how it had gone down. Now he just had to go to the police station and… and do what exactly? The officer in charge of their case seemed to have a personal grudge against him, even though he had no idea why. If he went to the station now and having solved it, would they really believe him? Or… or would they accuse him of having done the deed… again?

Lukas was unsure how he would do this suddenly, and as he saw the bus turn around the corner a few streets down did he leave the bus stop and go back to the library. He had to think this through.

Inside could he see that Elizabeta was not at the desk. Maybe she had left or maybe she was by the shelf, putting books in their place. He must have seemed like a crazy person to her so she probably would not like to see him, but that was fine, he needed to be alone right now. He found a secluded place far inside the building, he wondered if it was her he had been last time? He was unsure.

He sat down and made a mental list over how he would do this.

He thought about if he should involve his friends, but thought against it. He also concluded that he would not go to the police. Maybe he could in some way persuade Allistor and Dylan to give their stuff back, even confess to the police? It was a stupid idea, but Allistor did not seem like a bad guy really. Maybe he had a chance if he just used the right words…

Lukas felt tired, and as he sat with his head on the table and thought did he feel his eyelids get heavier. And not after long was he sleeping.

Lukas woke with a jolt, like he had been electrocuted. At first he was groggy and did not understand where he was or why he was there, but then he remembered everything as he saw Allistor sit right across from him with a book in his hand and looking at Lukas like he was a freak. Robbery, Allistor is a thief, get their stuff back. It all went through his head.

“I see that you wake up quite fast… I honestly did not expect that.” He put the book down and looked at Lukas.

“I was starting to wonder if you were stalking me, but now I see that I could look like that both ways… ” Allistor said.

“We have seen each other a lot during theses few days…” he continued.

“Yeah I guess so.” Lukas said, rubbing his eyes and checking the time, he must have slept for quite some time…

“Sorry for scaring you… I often wake up like that when I sleep in weird positions.” He apologized and suddenly did not know what to do. He knew that he had somewhat thought out a plan before he drifted off, bit now it just seemed silly to try to do it. Persuade his robber to give him their stuff back…

“Well I should be going. I just sat here so that no one weird would try anything while you were sleeping,” Allistor said and got up.

“Yeah I should get back home too,” Lukas said and got up as well.

“Thanks by the way.”

“Just repaying the last favor.”

“The breakfast?”

“Yeah.”

Lukas sighed, this guy had too much honor, but it gave him hope that maybe he could talk him to give back their stuff after all. Maybe even their money.

They exited the library, with a confused looking Elizabeta watching them leave.

As they started to walk outside into the night did they both note that they were walking the same direction.

“So, where are you headed?” Lukas asked.

“The 41 bus.” Allistor replied.

“Then I guess there is no reason to say goodbye just yet since we take the same bus.” Lukas let Allistor know.

“Oh, where do you live?” he asked then

“Duchess street.” Lukas replied, hoping that he had not said it too fast revealing his lie.

“Wouldn’t the 38 bus be better then?” Allistor asked with skepticism.

“There is this kiosk I like to stop by, so I take the 41, and a little walking is never unhealthy.” Lukas countered.

It seemed that Allistor bought his lie and they boarded the bus. Lukas noted as the bus started to drive that there were three people that was running frantically to get to it. He felt bad for them knowing that it was never fun missing the bus.

As they got off the bus did Lukas pretend to look for something in the kiosk but said that he could not find anything he  wanted. As they came up to Lukas’s apartment driveway did Allistor start to walk inside, and Lukas barely remembered that he had to pretend that he did not live there. He continued to walk, passing the driveway. He could see Allistor go up the stairs, and he could also the a figure smoking on the third floor. As he came to the corner did he wait the for two minutes then he went back to the driveway and up the stairs himself. Abel was no longer outside, Lukas noted. He came to his floor, and for a split second he wanted to just go inside to his friends, but then he thought better off it. He started to walk up to the fifth floor.

He saw that the door was slightly ajar, he breathed in and entered.

There inside stood all of their stuff, and in the center was Allistor and Dylan.

“I thought the saying was: no honor amongst thieves?” Lukas said and slammed the door shut

“Lukas?” Allistor said.

“What are you doing in my storage?” he tried.

“Stop bullshitting me!” Lukas did not scream, but it came out loud enough for them to understand that e was not in a mood to be played with.

“How did you know what we did? You a cop?” Allistor asked as he lit a smoke.

“No, I’m the fool you guys stole from. I live downstairs.”

“I see.” Was all Allistor said for some time. He inhaled and then exhaled some smoke.

“Have you alerted the cops?” he then asked.

“No.” Lukas said.

“Okay, here is the deal, we split the money 50/50, okay?” Allistor offered.

Lukas had no time to answer when suddenly the cops came through the door and told everyone to get down on the ground. Lukas was about to try to explain himself, but he saw the mean cop come in through the door and he was looking a little too trigger happy. Lukas got down as well, not wanting to get shoot.

* * *

 

“The rest you all know I presume?” Lukas asked the ones in the couch. They all gave nods.

“Now… how did you all get me out?”

The room once again grew silent, and then Elizabeta spoke up.

“I never liked Allistor as I told you.” She started.

While you were sleeping in the library I saw you, and I saw Allistor as well. He was on his phone for a time and I kind of saw what was written. It said: we’re emptying the place today. Be there.” She seemed to think somewhat.

“I thought such a text was strange, but it was not before after I met Chris when he was trying to pick a fight with random stranger -”

“- I was not!”

“And he told me while we were walking Gilbert’s drunk ass home that you had all been robbed. And he mentioned your name, and gilbert told me about your guys breakfast earlier and he also mentioned your name then. And I just got this feeling that it had to be Allistor.” Elizabeta finished, having clearly not been pleased about being interrupted by Chris.

“So what did you do?” Lukas asked.

“I gave the police the information I knew and told them of Allistor and about you.”

“I found it strange that these stranger had been walking up and down the stairs the last days.” Abel started to say.

“I told my sister of what you had said the day that we meet, that someone had been on the fifth floor. And then on the day of the arrest it was I who called the police, said there were people trespassing…”

“Please don’t be mad at my brother. I have been strict with him to never let unjust walk away.” Bella started.

“On the day of the arrest I found it strange that Abel mentioned the stranger walking up, and since I meet you Lukas the day before I was still trying to figure out the crime. Then it clicked to be that they had walked everything up to the unused apartment. I gave this information to my captain.”

“So thanks to Elizabeta’s call in and your report to the captain and since I had proof that I was away at that time the robbery actually happened did I get set free?” Lukas asked.

“Seems so,” Gilbert said  and smiled.

“Okay, great we solved the mystery, can we go home now?” Gilbert asked.

“Guess so…” Tino said.

* * *

 

After everyone had left did the four friends look at each other.

“Sorry,” they all said at the same time. They looked at each other expectantly, then they all laughed.

Lukas was a free man, their stuff where just a floor above them and they had ice cream in the fridge. Life was good again.

* * *

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it folk for this story arc :D  
> It was fun to write even though I forgot how the ending was really supposed to go, but that happens when you don’t write stuff like that down… however I think that I managed to come close enough.   
> The thing is though, this whole fic was just supposed to be something I would do for fun, and I have had fun writing each chapter, but this was never meant to be my sole project.   
> So I am going to be stricter with myself and don't have to feel like I should update this fic whenever I can. That way I can work on other fics as well.   
> Though, I’ll still take suggestions on what should happen next, right now the fic ended in late August, so feel free to say what you feel should happen to these four next ^ ^. Or if I should explore anything about their characters or such. Let me know *_*
> 
> Thanks to my Beta: BlessYou for making me realise that I can’t type Abel’s name for shit.
> 
> Thanks for reading and have a lovely day!
> 
> Happiness: 5/10.  
> Stress: 5/10.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a fic I might do more Chapters to when I feel like adding on the story. If you have any suggestions of what these four people could do together or not together then feel free to suggest. If you want to see especially two, or three of them together doing something too, then don't hesitate. Judging on how the other chapters turn out, we'll see who ends up as pairs and such.  
> Inspiration for this story is from the "Dark Circles Au" ( post/145507240223/dark-circles-au) by auideas on tumblr.
> 
> Thanks to BlessYou for beta reading.
> 
> Happiness: 9/10  
> Stress: 3/10


End file.
